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Court of Night-Blooming Flowers
The Court of Night-Blooming Flowers, commonly known as the Night Court, is a band of thirteen houses of courtesans based in the City of Elua. Located on the hill of Mont Nuit, the thirteen houses are Alyssum, Balm, Bryony, Camellia, Cereus, Dahlia, Eglantine, Gentian, Heliotrope, Jasmine, Mandrake, Orchis and Valerian. They are considered the most elite and skilled of Naamah's Servants. Each house has its own canon and produces adepts that cater to a particular taste or skill. The house canons relate to each house's view of Naamah and her reasons for sleeping with mortals. Houses & Mottos Alyssum *Motto: With Eyes Averted *Canon: Modesty Balm *Motto: Rest and Be Soothed *Canon: Healing Bryony *Motto: Wealth Seeks Company *Canon: Wealth Camellia *Motto: Without Fault or Flaw *Canon: Perfection Cereus *Motto: All Loveliness Fades *Canon: Fragility Dahlia *Motto: Upright and Unbending *Canon: Dignity Eglantine *Motto: To Create is to Live *Canon: Creativity Gentian *Motto: Truth and Vision *Canon: Mysticism Heliotrope *Motto: Thou, and No Other *Canon: Devotion Jasmine *Motto: For Pleasure's Sake *Canon: Sensuality Mandrake *Motto: Yield All *Canon: Dominance Orchis *Motto: Joy in Laughter *Canon: Humor Valerian *Motto: I Yield *Canon: Submission Structure and Initiation Each house is led by a Dowayne, who is assisted by his or her Second. There are about three hundred adepts total between the houses. Mandrake and Valerian have smaller clientele than the other houses. Children may be born into a house, or they may be sold into one. Adepts may be paired off with the hopes of producing children to fit the house's canon. Any children who do fit the canon are kept, any who don't will have their marques sold to other houses. Dedication into Naamah's Service happens at age thirteen. The ceremony takes place at each house's own temple of Naamah. A priest or priestess of Naamah performs the ceremony, which involves releasing a dove. Their instruction typically begins with a Showing. A Showing is a performance where an audience watches a pair of adepts have sex. It is always the pairing of a man and a woman for a new initiate, but Showings may vary in content otherwise. Any member of the house is welcome to attend a Showing that is taking place. After this, the initiate begins instruction in the arts of sensuality and seduction while learning the skills necessary for a member of their house. Erotic texts such as the Trois Milles Joies, the Ecstatica, the'' Journey of Naamah'' and the Log of Seven Hundred Kisses are studied. When an adept reaches age sixteen, they are ready to begin taking patrons. They have a debut where prospective patrons come to view them and offer a price for their virginity. Once they start taking patrons, an adept can begin to pay off their debt to the house. Any money for an assignation goes to the house. Any other money received, known as a patron gift, goes toward the adept's marque. Patron gifts are typically placed in a sculpture of two cupped hands, called Naamah's hands. ] A marque is an elaborate flower tattoo limned on the backs of adepts. This is done because it is said Naamah scratched the backs of patrons who pleased her and the marks never faded. Each house has its own specific marque pattern. Any patron gifts an adept earns will go to the marquist for the completion of their marque. Adepts do not display their marques before they are completed. A marque is not complete until it has been seen and acknowledged as such by the adept's Dowayne. Once an adept has made their marque, they are free to either leave the house or stay and give a portion of their earnings to it. Other Information Cereus is the first of the thirteen houses. It was founded by Enediel Vintesoir seven hundred years before the series takes place. The order in which the other houses formed is unknown. Cereus retains a certain status because of this- they hold the Midwinter Masque every year. Tokens are pendants with the house's insignia on them, which may be used for a free assignation. The Night Court has fallen somewhat in prestige by the time the series takes place. It initially served only the royal family and the great houses, but has since expanded its clientele to include anyone who can afford it. A trip to the Night Court is a typical part of a noble's sixteenth birthday. Category:Groups Category:Court of Night-Blooming Flowers